TEAM INDIA slow-‘cooked’ by You know who……….

In the events after euphoric World cup win, Team India in a state of mental and physical fatigue are relinquishing their status as ‘Top Test Cricketing Nation’. Before we go on analyzing the rise, peaking and a minor dip in Team India’s progress, let me give e brief overview of point system. (For complete explanation of it please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_Test_Championship#Historical_rankings). I’m of belief that with good system in place for cricket, i.e. Ranji trophy, Tours of Team A to different countries, Emerging players tours, Team India will remain competitive in test cricket world for years to come. It just so happened that this team couldn’t survive the intense grueling of test cricket in England’s backyard.

Coming back to the point system for test cricket, it is relatively new and one that was held coveted by ‘The Great Australian Team’. However, after the ‘Mass Exodus’, an unlikely Team SA grabbed the top spot for a brief period of 4 months. The mantle was then passed onto Team India for the next two years. If you look at the history since then, since 2008 Team India has not lost a series either home or away and has played the likes of all the other top four teams (Australia, SA, Srilanka and England), which lead to Team India’s rise to the top. During the same period (except for England) the other teams have either lost their away series or only drawn on the home series. Since the point system clearly favors a team that is consistently in ‘NET POSITIVE’ side of the results, Team India benefitted from their schedule, more like stars aligning right. The one series that did matter was away series with Team SA which they have efficiently held to a draw. They were never facing a red-hot team (like current Team England) nor had a grueling season. Moreover, from the scheduling point of view, Test match was more like a make up for lost time between ODI’s and T20’s. Though the ‘pundits’ applaud test cricket as pinnacle form of cricket, Team India’s schedule says otherwise.

Since 2008, the accidental coincidence with boom of T20, Team India hardly has any warm up practice games for test matches. If you look at the warm up time, most of the franchise teams have about a week to ten days to acclimatize to the rigors of T20. On the other hand, Team India has only 5 days for bilateral series? In long run this has to change. It would be better for Team India (Paraphrasing Saurav’s famous words “Team India is a slow starter”), to have a tour match with at least one red-hot county team. The lack of practice is/was/will be a recipe for a major setback. The attitude of “slow starters” will always be tested when India met an in-form team.

Here is how Mr. Thorn (aka Flower) plotted the much taunted batting lineup. That Z. Khan pulled out the first day was a mere luck in his favor. If you look at last 10 series, the batsman that performed the most (highest run scorers in series) were Sachin, Gambhir, Sehwag (very recently Dravid). It was imperative for Team Pommies to figure out these stalwarts. Test 1, Gambhir in close in field, hit him out. Might cost a wicket in that process, but at least it will hamper him. Blow to Gambhir was inevitable, given the shots that KP and Prior intended on playing they were poised to induce maximum pain to the solid opener. If the gamble pays off, then bowlers get into rhythm early and make clear inroads into the fragile lower spine of Indian Batting. You may call it unlucky, but it was a clear plot which truly worked in England’s favor. Given that Sehwag was out for first two and didn’t have match practice for others, the sole effort was with short stuff in swinging conditions. Dravid though was the hard part, he was clearly not part of the plans, since they were going for win and Dravid’s mindset of playing for a draw was not in direct conflict of their plans.

In the bowling front, inexperienced line up with little match practice, no strong back ups and swinging conditions meant a long uphill battle. The nail in the coffin was Bhajji pulling out of the series which left a wide gap with experience. Although we did have Murali Karthik on the advisory team, it takes more than advice for a new bowler to perform. Though not remarkable, RP Singh was a remarkable addition to the team. It is hard for a bowler to run in as hard as Ishant Sharma and not be awarded. English Batsmen knew their conditions well and Mr. Thorn always has a grounds committee for every English venue.

Now to the credit of Team England, they did have some in-form bowlers. Chris Tremlett was relentless and Stuart Broad found immense help in Therapy (or rather sugar coated version of Motivational Coaching). They got wickets against the run of play and the bowlers made the batsman play…. Did I mention the word ‘play’? And when the judgment day arrived (for the white wash), the magician stepped up to rip apart the fragile Team India’s tail (which btw starts from No. 5). All in all, sometimes the best laid plans do not work, but for Team England it worked like a charm and also with the Mantle of “World No. 1 in test cricket”. Kudos to England team. But then again it is just a minor blip on Team India’s future.

I keep reminding myself that “long term” results are a consequence of an efficient system. Hope the selectors stay wise and take positives from such a dismal series.

H-1 B process for Hyderabad Center

After my recent success with H1B, I just realized with enough preparation, the process could be very simple and stress-less. Here is a step wise approach that I followed for a successful experience

Appointment requirements (in the order of importance)

1. Photo fitting the requirements (would be best to check your picture on their website before starting the DS-160)
2. DS-160 (Takes about 20-30 minutes. Save the DS -160 process as you proceed. The program is notorious for “refreshing” and losing information. Save the completed form for future).
3. HDFC receipts (Check the VFS website for up to date exchange rates)
4. Plan on making your appointments at least 15-20 days prior to your interview date. Print three copies of the appointment letter. (In my case, Hyderabad availability was updated only three weeks in advance, but at VFS they mentioned that they allowed applicants could get an interview as late as 5-7 days in advance)

Application process

Submit the following in the VFS Hyderabad Center 3 days in advance (you can also authorize of your friends/relatives to do this for you – in which case add an additional authorization letter to the list).

1. Copy of VFS Interview letter
2. Copy of DS-160 confirmation
3. Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
4. Copy of I-797
5. Copy of the employers petition letter to USCIS
6. Original HDFC receipts – Both the receipts (green color) for fees paid.
7. One recent photograph (there is a photographer at the venue, charges you Rs. 100 for 4. Highly recommend it)

You get a white confirmation receipt from VFS. (you will need this to pick-up your VISA)

Note: (I had interview on Tuesday and they accepted my documents on Friday. I later learnt that there are lot of people who do not follow this protocol and end up standing in a long line at the consulate office on the day of interview, which seemed like an anxious and stressful process. Your interview could be delayed by 2-4 hours if you don’t submit the documents earlier. I would strongly recommend submitting the documents earlier.

Interview requirements

(This is an exhaustive list. I had an index paper listing all the documents. The VISA officer found it really easy to navigate through the documents using the index, as a consequence asked me very few questionsJ)

Immigration Documents

1. Copy of DS 160
2. Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
3. Original I-797 notice of approval,
4. Copy of complete I-129 petition submitted
5. Copy of Labor Condition Application
6. Copy of HDFC Bank fee receipt
7. Copy of SSN

Employment Documents

1. Offer Letter (received at the time of employment)
2. Current Employment Verification Letter
3. Letter from your Manager certifying the current list of projects you are working on
4. Copy of Latest Resume
5. Copy of Pay slips (at least for the past 6 months)
6. Names and current phone numbers of the personnel managers and current HR
7. Copy of ID card
8. Copy of W2's and 1040 (at least for the past 5 years if you are already living in US)

Miscellaneous Documents

1. Copy of Address Proof (lease and/or driver's license)
2. Photographs (3)
3. Copies of relevant diplomas (in my case Master’s and Doctoral)
4. Copy of air ticket (with your return ticket if you have it)
5. Copy of Bank Statements (6 months of one major bank)

The day of

1. Arrive 10-15 minutes earlier. Really only 15 minutes earlier. (This was different from my Chennai experience as a student, where I went almost 2 hours in advance and was standing in hot and humid conditions).
2. Just have your valid passport and appointment letter in your hand.
3. If you arrive only 10 minutes prior, just directly go to the Gate keeper. (No need to stand in line and hopelessly stand behind people who arrive 20-30 minutes before their scheduled time)
4. There is no shelter for waiting, so prepare yourself for rain and shine.
5. They do not allow any umbrellas or bags inside so have a water proof document organizer. They were very particular about cosmetics and had witnessed two female applicants sent back for having some in their hand bags.

Interview process

If you have submitted your documents earlier, you are directed to one of the three windows inside. (you will really enjoy the benefit of submitting stuff earlier).

1. You show your passport and appointment letter. The documents you submitted earlier are returned to you. (Make sure you save the green HDFC receipt, you need this along with the white receipt (item II-2 listed above).
2. You are directed to finger printing window. (longest wait time, there is water at the back wall)
3. You are directed to interview window (I had four people in front of me).
4. Don’t hesitate to ask the interviewer to repeat if you have not understood the question (you say Pardon me, excuse me, or could you please repeat the question). It would greatly help for you to answer the question exactly with few words other than saying YES or NO.

Follow Up

If approved you will get an email in 3-5 business days to pick up your passport.

You can either pick it up from VFS office on specific date and time period (very easy for Hyderabad residents), or you have to wait 2 more days for the courier service to deliver it to you.

If picking up from VFS office –

Usually between 3 and 5 pm. I would recommend going at 3 pm.

Take only the following documents

• Copy and original of HDFC green receipt
• White confirmation receipt (Item II-2, listed above)
• Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
• Any form of ID

Rejected cases:

Three of the four people ahead of me were rejected of H1B visa. One common trait among them was mess nature of arranging documents. Situation 1: The officer asked for LCA (Labor certification application and relevant diplomas, the applicant took long time to sort through and was completely lost in the messy document pile). Situation 2: The officer asked the applicant why was a primary company not sponsoring his H1B, the applicant showed a number of documents to support his importance for his consultancy rather than answering more specifically. Situation 3: The parents didn’t have the Payslip copies of their child, didn’t exactly know the company name their Son was working for, No W-2 or 1040’s of their son. I felt sorry for the old couple.

Useful links:

Genral information regarding Hyderebad – US: http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov/

VFS website: https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/Index.html